THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 22, 1995 TAG: 9504220394
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
Hampton Roads' economy continues to grow in a number of key industries, signaling that the region has yet to feel the sting of the Federal Reserve's series of interest-rate hikes over the past year, a local economist said.
The Hampton Roads Economic Performance Index rose to 106 in February, up from 105.4 in January, reported David G. Garraty, a professor at Virginia Wesleyan College, which administers the index.
Seasonally adjusted jobs and average wage data are used to compile the index, which measures local economic activity. It operates from a baseline of 100 that represents an average from 1989 to 1991.
Industries including transportation, business services, construction, retail and government all improved, according to Garraty's index.
Mirroring Hampton Roads, Virginia's economy has grown moderately and has not felt the ``soft landing'' - or economic slowdown - engineered by the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hikes.
The state economic performance index rose slightly to 107.6 in February from 107. Employment gains in government, transportation, retail trade and services drove the economic barometer up.
Housing starts in Hampton Roads improved as well in March as the number of residential construction permits rose to 566, almost doubling the 318 permits requested in February, according to the Builders and Contractors Exchange Inc.
February residential permits for single-family units totaled $53.7 million.
Garraty anticipates slower construction activity - which has been brisk in Hampton Roads - in the second half of the year.
KEYWORDS: ECONOMY by CNB